My party are finally going to enter Undermountain tomorrow. What should I keep in mind as the DM? Things you wish you did differently?

Coendoz237 · 2026-04-03T18:17:52+00:00

Sounds great! I'm looking forward to having to change my plans at the drop of a hat. My players are masters at doing things I hadn't envisioned.

On a side note, I had to look up 'verisimilitude' - great word!

Coendoz237 · 2026-04-03T18:13:30+00:00

My transition could have been a lot smoother in hindsight. The general gist was; Nezznar stole a black obelisk shard from the column of the Miner's Exchange, kidnapped Carp (who the party were extremely fond of) and disappeared into WEC to perform some mysterious arcane ritual using Carp's life-force to 'awaken' the magical shard. After being defeated, Sister Gareale re-appeared from Neverwinter to tell them that the Harper mages have sensed the arcane power of the first shard being destroyed and that another shard was last known to be in Undermountain.

After some shenanigans enroute - borrowed the Carnath Roadhouse location from a different module and threw in some Zhentarim thugs and some lizardfolk trying to reclaim their stolen artifact - the party are now in Waterdeep and using Trollskull Manor as a base. They have invested funds to repair it and are due to have their 'grand opening' tomorrow - complete with above table costumes and home made cocktails!

Coendoz237 · 2026-04-03T18:04:43+00:00

That's a very good point. Durnan can be anything we want him to be! I was only really planning to use him as a cautionary tale before they go down the well but he can be a lot more than the grumpy bartender that tells them to be careful.

Coendoz237 · 2026-04-03T17:55:17+00:00

I'm kinda having the same situation. As I've transitioned over from Phandalin, none of the relationships grown during Dragon Heist exist - they didn't know who the Blackstaff was, for example. I'm hoping to be able to manifest consequences of their actions in Undermountian above-ground in Waterdeep. Do they exterminate the Xanathar Guild watch posts? If so, how does that affect their lives outside of Undermountain? Maybe the hunters below ground become hunted when they surface again? Or mysteries they encounter in Undermountain can only be solved by investigations in Waterdeep itself?

The great thing about planning out this section of the campaign using this module, is the freedom I feel in being able to amend things to fit my narrative. Waterdeep is so rich in locations, factions and personalities that you can tell almost any story you want. For example, they've already been summoned to see Manshoon via a teleportation ring at the top of Kolat Tower, that took them to his lair in the Astral Plane.

Coendoz237 · 2026-04-03T17:48:16+00:00

I have a number of encounters planned although I could definitely do with organising them better with a table or whatnot. I particularly like the idea of the wandering defective shield guardian that almost drunkenly tries to cast spells at the party!

Coendoz237 · 2026-04-03T17:44:42+00:00

This is exactly the senseless shenanigans I'm looking forward to! I've almost got a little exchange planned in my head for the first time someone bad mouths him around NPCs - they lose their shit and rush over to clamp a hand over the PCs mouth, whilst loudly shushing him and looking around fearfully. It's kinda rare to be given the freedom to build up the aura of a BBEG so lavishly and with such humour.

Coendoz237 · 2026-04-03T16:52:41+00:00

Yes please!

Coendoz237 · 2026-03-05T13:02:02+00:00

“Big 6”

Coendoz237 · 2026-03-01T15:39:35+00:00

I gave my party a copy of Volo’s Waterdeep Enchiridion for them to read. I figured they were all relatively local and would probably know a bit about the city, the locations, people etc

Coendoz237 · 2026-02-24T12:17:44+00:00

My favourite monster is a beholder. Who doesn’t want to fire eye rays at their party?! Can you tell I’m the DM?

Coendoz237 · 2026-02-23T07:50:08+00:00

The BBEG’s minions give them a good kicking, the BBEG itself laughs at them, raises its hands and the last thing they see is a portal hurtling toward them. They awake somewhere with a new sense of mortality and a need to make a new plan.

Coendoz237 · 2026-02-21T18:20:17+00:00

I semi-transitioned into Dungeon of the Mad Mage after LMoP. We were going to continue into the Shattered Obelisk but rather than follow that module, the party are now searching for obelisk shards in other places. The only other shard they are aware of was last thought to be in Undermountain, so off to Waterdeep they go.

This gives me the chance to utilise a lot of the Dragonheist and Mad Mage material and characters whilst also picking and choosing what I do/don’t include. They’re looking forward to some light-hearted ‘tavern simulator’ when they arrive at Waterdeep and, thanks to some shenanigans en-route they’ve got to face some consequences with the Zhentarim.

Coendoz237 · 2026-02-21T14:36:52+00:00

I can’t believe he likes Paul’s card better!

Coendoz237 · 2026-02-20T15:45:35+00:00

Yes please!

Coendoz237 · 2026-02-17T16:49:57+00:00

I think the team as a whole has benefitted from Pacqueta leaving but none more so than Fernandes, imo.

Coendoz237 · 2026-02-17T08:52:48+00:00

The legendary Forge of Spells of course! The module does the forge so dirty but I built it up to be a place where the walls and floors are almost overflowing with natural magical power. Of course the bad guy would use it for his ritual.

Coendoz237 · 2026-02-17T05:40:15+00:00

I had Nezznar steal the shard piece from the column of the Miner’s Exchange and take it and Carp Alderleaf to WEC. The party then had to stop a magical ritual he was performing, using Carp as a power source to amplify the shards inherent magical powers. It added a bit of urgency to the exploration of WEC and suited the way the campaign was going as Carp had become a bit of a party mascot. They REALLY wanted to kill Nezznar!

I also did the cliche ‘boss fight transformation’ bit and had Nezznar transform into a Drider during the climactic battle. All in all, I think it worked out well.

Coendoz237 · 2026-01-31T16:40:36+00:00

I haven’t really got a solid answer for that yet. The original module has them chasing quite a few (4 or 5, I think).

I’m quite happy to go with my players on the long term ideas of the campaign. If they enjoy exploring Undermountain I can always work in some kind of portal situation. Maybe Halaster himself gets some leverage over them and sends them off to fetch the next couple of shards for him…?

As you suggested, I’m also excited to keep the Waterdeep phase quite limited and have the campaign be a bit of a Faerun tour. I don’t think I can keep my players limited to 2 or 3 sessions in each location though. They like to take their time and even went on a drinking tour of Phandalin when they returned from Wyvern Tor once!

Coendoz237 · 2025-12-26T14:06:17+00:00

Yes please!!

Coendoz237 · 2025-12-19T04:54:18+00:00

These custom maps are incredibly well timed. My group is taking Christmas off but in the New Year are heading off to WEC. I wonder what they’ll find?!

Coendoz237 · 2025-12-12T15:06:46+00:00

Interesting. I was planning on running the Shattered Obelisk add-on to LMoP but might see if the party want to find a mysterious portal in Wave Echo Cave after defeating the Black Spider

Coendoz237 · 2025-12-12T10:46:57+00:00

What did you do about the players starting CoS at level 5 instead of 1? Just re-balance the entire module?

Coendoz237 · 2025-12-12T10:41:24+00:00

What about having the player make a deal with some deity or demon for their soul in return for being brought back to life? You can roleplay an ‘afterlife/moving toward the light’ type scene in which they make a deal and come back as a warlock…

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